Part 3 (1/2)
”Do you mean Dr. Llewellyn?” asked Mrs. Stewart, coldly.
”Yes, Aunt Katherine, you had no chance to know him before he went away, but you will just love him.”
”Shall I?” asked Mrs. Stewart with a smile which acted like a wet blanket upon poor Peggy.
”But why do you call him by that absurd name? Why not call him Dr.
Llewellyn?”
”Call him Dr. Llewellyn?” echoed Peggy. ”Why, I have never called him anything else since he taught me to call him by that dear name when I was a wee little thing.”
”And do you expect to cling to childish habits all your days, Peggy dear? Isn't it about time you began to think about growing up? Sit here upon this cus.h.i.+on beside me. I wish to have a serious talk with you and this seems a most opportune moment. I have felt the necessity of it ever since my arrival, but have refrained from speaking because I feared I might be misjudged and do harm rather than good. Sit down, dear.”
Mrs. Stewart strove to bring into her voice an element of deep interest, affection was beyond her,--and Peggy was sufficiently intuitive to feel it. Nevertheless, if anything could have appealed to this self-centered woman's affection it ought surely to have been the young girl who obediently dropped upon the big Turkish cus.h.i.+on, and clasping her hands upon the broad arm of the chair, looked up into the steely, calculating eyes with a pair so soft, so brown, so trustful yet so perplexed, that an ordinary woman would have gathered her right into her arms and claimed all the richness and loyalty of affection so eager to find an outlet. If it could only have been Mrs. Harold, or Polly's mother, how quick either would have been to comprehend the loving nature of the girl and reap the reward of it.
Mrs. Stewart merely smiled into the wild-rose face in a way which she fondly believed to accentuate her own charms, and tapping the pretty brown hands with her fan, said:
”I am growing extremely proud of my lovely niece. She is going to be a great credit to me, and, also, I foresee, a great responsibility.”
”A responsibility, Aunt Katherine?” asked Peggy, a perplexed pucker upon her forehead. ”Have I been a responsibility to you since you came here?
I am sorry if I have. Of course I know my life down here in the old home is quite different from most girls' lives. I didn't realize that until I met Mrs. Harold and Polly and then, later, went up to New London and saw more of other girls and the way they live. But I have been very happy here, Aunt Katherine, and since I have known Mrs. Harold and Polly a good many things have been made pleasanter for me. I can never repay them for their kindness to me.”
Peggy paused and a wonderfully sweet light filled her eyes, for her love for her absent friends was very true and deep, and speaking of them seemed to bring them back to the familiar surroundings which she knew they had grown to love so well, and where she and Polly had pa.s.sed so many happy hours.
Mrs. Stewart was not noted for her capacity for deep feeling and was more amused than otherwise affected by Peggy's earnest speech, cla.s.sifying it as ”a girl's sentimentality.” Finer qualities were wasted upon that lady. So she now smiled indulgently and said:
”Of course I can understand your appreciation of what you consider Mrs.
Harold's and her niece's kindness to you, but, have you ever looked upon the other side of the question? Have you not done a great deal for them?
It seems to me you have quite cancelled any obligation to them. It must have been some advantage to them to have such a lovely place as this to visit at will, and, if I can draw deductions correctly, to practically have the run of. It seems to me there was considerable advantage upon _their_ side of the arrangement. You, naturally, can not see this, but I'll venture to say Mrs. Harold was not so unsophisticated,” and a pat upon Peggy's hand playfully emphasized the lady's charitable view.
Peggy felt bewildered and her hands fell from the arm of the chair to her lap, though her big soft eyes never changed their gaze, which proved somewhat disconcerting to the older woman who had the grace to color slightly. Peggy then rallied her forces and answered:
”Aunt Katherine, I am sure neither Mrs. Harold nor Polly ever had the faintest idea of any advantage to themselves in being nice to me. Why in this world should they? They have ten times more than _I_ could ever give to them. Why think of how extensively Mrs. Harold has traveled and what hosts of friends she has! And Polly too. Goodness, they let me see and enjoy a hundred things I never could have seen or enjoyed otherwise.”
Mrs. Stewart laughed a low, incredulous laugh, then queried:
”And you the daughter of Neil Stewart and a little Navy girl? Really, Peggy, you are deliciously _ingenue_. Well, never mind. It is of more intimate matters I wish to speak, for with each pa.s.sing day I recognize the importance of a radical reconstruction in your mode of living. That is what I meant when I said I foresaw greater responsibilities ahead.
You are no longer a child, Peggy, to run wild over the estate, but--well, I must not make you vain. In a year or two at most, you will make your _debut_ and someone must provide against that day and be prepared to fill properly the position of chaperone to you. Meantime, you must have proper training and as near as I can ascertain you have never had the slightest. But it can not be deferred a moment longer. It is absolutely providential that I, the only relative you have in this world, should have met you as I did, though I can hardly understand how your father overlooked the need so long. Perhaps it was from motives of unselfishness, though he must have known that I stood ready to make any sacrifice for my dear dead Peyton's brother.” Just here Mrs. Peyton's feelings almost overcame her and a delicate handkerchief was pressed to her eyes for a moment.
Ordinarily tender and sympathetic to the last degree, Peggy could not account for her strange indifference to her aunt's distress. She simply sat with hands clasped about her knees and waited for her to resume the conversation. Presently Madam emerged from her temporary eclipse and said:
”Forgive me, dear, my feelings quite overcame me for a moment. To resume: I know dear Neil would never ask it of me, but I have been thinking very seriously upon the subject and have decided to forget self, and my many interests in New York, and devote my time to you. I shall remain with you and relieve you of all responsibility in this great household, a responsibility out of all proportion to your years.
Indeed, I can not understand how you have retained one spark of girlish spontaneity under such unnatural conditions. Such cares were meant for older, more experienced heads than your pretty one, dear. It will be a joy to me to relieve you of them and I can not begin too soon. We will start at once. I shall write to your father to count upon me for everything and, if he feels so disposed, to place everything in my hands. Furthermore, I shall suggest that he send you to a fine school where you will have the finis.h.i.+ng your birth and fortune ent.i.tle you to.
You know absolutely nothing of a.s.sociation, with other girls,--no, please let me finish,” as Peggy rose to her feet and stood regarding her aunt with undisguised consternation, ”I know of a most excellent school in New York, indeed, it is conducted by a very dear friend of mine, where you would meet only girls of the wealthiest families” (Mrs.
Stewart did not add that the majority had little beside their wealth to stand as a bulwark for them; they were the daughters of New York City's newly rich whose ancestry would hardly court inspection) ”and even during your school days you would get a taste of New York's social advantages; a thing utterly impossible in this dull--ahem!--this remote place. I shall strongly advise dear Neal to consider this. You simply cannot remain buried here. _I shall_, of course, since I feel it my duty to do so, but I can have someone pa.s.s the winter with me, and can make frequent trips to Was.h.i.+ngton.”
Mrs. Stewart paused for breath. Peggy did not speak one word, but with a final dazed look at her aunt, turned and entered the house.